A71 Noorduyn Norseman

The Canadian Noorduyn company designed and built the Norseman in the 1930s as a rugged bush utility transport. Fourteen of these 10-seat aircraft were supplied to the RAAF in late 1943 (A71-1 to 14) and served with Nos 1(at Essendon), 2 (Mascot), 4 (Archerfield), 5 (Garbutt) and 7 (Pearce) Communications Units. By the war's end, six had been written off or reduced to components, and the remainder were sold to civilian operators between 1947 and 1950.